Haris Rauf: “Wahab Riaz is better than Mohammad Amir”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Haris Rauf, the express Pakistan speedster, rated left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz as a better bowler than Mohammad Amir.
Amir was once considered to be a prodigy and was living up to all the hype until his career came crashing down when he was involved in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal that resulted in him being banned for five years.
While he returned to the international set-up, he never really propelled his career to the same heights prior to his ban, even though he had flashes of brilliance. Eventually, he retired from international cricket in December 2020 and has been playing in various T20 leagues around the world.
Wahab, meanwhile, announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2023 and was a key member of the Pakistan pace attack for quite some time. His chances started drying up three years ago and he remained committed to making a comeback but never managed to accomplish it.
Both players were exceptional bowlers at their respective peaks as they could not stop taking wickets, but Rauf feels that Wahab had the edge over Amir.
“Wahab Riaz is better than Mohammad Amir,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Rauf wasn’t picked for Pakistan’s recent two-Test series against Sri Lanka, but he did take five wickets in two ODIs against Afghanistan at an average of 13.20.
In the Asia Cup, he claimed nine wickets in four matches at an average of 13.33.
Pakistan kicked off their campaign with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was ruined by rain.
Having progressed to the Super Four stage, the men in green eased past Bangladesh by seven wickets before suffering a 228-run loss at the hands of India.
To make matters worse, Rauf was diagnosed with a right flank injury after that match and didn’t feature in the team’s two-wicket loss to Sri Lanka via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method, which knocked Pakistan out of the Asia Cup.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve:Â Tayyab Tahir